Amarsir

I think he was accurately shown to be a bad guy, but not everyone the show presents in that light is as bad as he was.

I did laugh once or twice (both chalk-related) but overall this was the weakest episode of the season. It was just too disjointed and neither plot felt like it had enough to do. Completely agree with @Lantern7 that Cricket was wasted.

To be fair, I do think this show often uses editing to spin a story. Sweet Pete's partner was a freeloader draining them dry. The Kensington Gardens partner was a helpful guy who got steamrolled and didn't negotiate well under pressure. But they both got the villain edit.But I agree it's an excuse that doesn't apply here. Marcus gave Sam and Alexa plenty of rope to hang themselves with.

That's why he's in the process of casting for an apprentice assistant. Apply now for his new show (The Partner) and you could be running these businesses for him!

To be fair Marcus is the one who didn't know what a last is, not Marshall, Ted, or Barney. However, the guy's critique was that they used the wrong last for the model, and along with their explanation of how they got into this it all sounds very amateurish.

You know, I like the crazier array of pitches in Dragons Den a lot more than the 8 layers of pre-screening for Shark Tank. "Sex toys in an hour" and a headband with no sales just seem different from the constant stream of apps and Bed Bath & Beyond shelf products. That said, fire suppression - with and without Christmas tree specifics - is not new at all. And I feel like the business becomes immune to critique because the idea is noble. So that didn't satisfy my investment scrutiny for the final spot. I did an Escape Room event last year in New Jersey, and they'd gotten the idea from somewhere in Europe. So it's clearly all over. There's nothing wrong with seeking investment for a chain, but a new operation of an established business is the opposite of an appealing investment. You need personal experience in an unused space.

Better Off Dead and Hot Dog seemed to be the movies that set the genre, but there were a lot of B-level knockoffs and ski scenes seemed to work their way into completely unrelated movies. And even if you've never seen those, Porkies, Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds are classics that certainly set the tone for goofy rivalry and sexual harassment-as-prank. And of course South Park did nail the concept in their own satire. Which really is the only negative I had about Sunny going there - as a parody it's been done. Overall a good episode. I wasn't overly psyched about another "road trip" story. The best was "The Gang Hits the Road" where they never really went anywhere. "The Gang Goes to the Jersey Shore" was just OK and focused too much on trashing Jersey over character-internal comedy. "The Gang Gets Stranded in the Woods" I barely remember. So just them skiing probably wouldn't have worked for me. But satirizing 80s movies as an excuse to break the gang into rivalries - including the less-common Mac & Dee pairing - that really worked.

There was the instruction to "pick 5 fabrics representing America" for which he returned with 14. However, there was also a subsequent discussion about 4 regions: North America, South America, Europe, and Africa. And then they seemed to have different fabrics for the same regions and 4 styles in 5 designs or something for a larger array than was implied. All quite confusing.Which actually makes me wonder if the designer guy wasn't quite as confused as the editing made us think. If they did have a plan for 5 cuts for 4 regions in multiple patterns, maybe he wasn't completely in left field by thinking he needed 40 pairs. I believe Marcus only expected to see 4, but I bet there was enough conversation about alternatives that the guy genuinely thought he was delivering the fully requested line.

$276. You can't simply save $300 for your relative's college fund. You have to give 8% to an app for some reason.

It's probably also relevant that this is a second business for him. If the cream was his only job and he thought about it 24/7 then I'd expect him to know better than anyone if the deal works. But as a side business his wife isn't that much less involved than he is. So the call stems not only from her own stake in the outcome but also from his doubt.

I wonder if that maybe has something to do with the reformat. Styoli seems like it might have gotten a mini-segment in past seasons, or at minimum would have been cut shorter to make room for the montage. Letting it breathe made for a funny segment. Joe in the camo was also hilarious. That's not his kind of product but I like that he was willing to dive into it and that they seem to be ramping up OK.

At first I was bothered by the premise of a Mattel executive wanting to buy their game. It's too big for their concept. That's the sort of thing that can affect shows in general - and this one in particular - as they go on. In season 1 it was teens drinking at the bar and a robbery. In season 2 they feud with the neighbor and get religious. Sillier but still grounded. Last year they were flying cross-country to beat Wade Bogg's drinking record, going on a game show, and creating a cult. All funny, but it felt like they were running out of ideas for a couple losers running a bar and getting bigger and more ridiculous. And the idea of a game company being interested - especially when tied to a sequel episode - would have been a bad sign. But they fixed that. For Frank to have pulled a scam is much more plausible and really made the whole thing work. And they made it apparent that this wasn't just the next time they played - it happens often and the game evolves. If you're going to go back to an old favorite, this is really a great way to do it. Psyched for the rest of the season.

I kind of like the furniture guy, although less so this time than his first appearance. It's a bad pitch, but a decent business from a guy who wasn't pretending to be anything he isn't. That was my opinion last year and I stand by it. I just didn't need to see it twice. I wish we got to know more about why Jim dropped out - twice. They've said before what a success Holy Crap is and it was nice to see them again. And I wouldn't mind if it got around to my local US supermarket. (Currently on Amazon, but $1.30 per ounce is a little more than I want to spend. I can get whole grains from Uncle Sam cereal for a third the price and buy American. :) ) I have to laugh though - if you go to their website the biggest thing there is a huge picture of Manjit. Good for her for embracing it, but you have to scroll way down to even find the product, and then there's a video of her a little below that. Very Lori Grenier, but I guess that means it works.

Agreed. I assume there's some kind of rule in place about how you can't take more than one of a category item. So if someone can't find (say) bread maybe it's deliberate that there were only 3 on the shelf and they expect the slowest person to resort to a wrap or something. I'm just guessing, as a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff isn't shown. (For example sometimes they're allowed to start boiling water before the round starts; I know that much.) You're also right about teamwork sabotages letting a "partner" ruin someone. But I wonder if the editing wasn't playing into that a little bit. Yes, they showed Joe holding back the sack while Jacqueline was rushing him. But they showed that same clip FOUR times, spread out of order with other clips. And piecing it together that clip came after her stuff was boiling. (The clip shows Joe cutting asparagus which is still on the cutting board during a much later clip.) So that wasn't actually what killed her. I'm sure it was a major inconvenience and Jacqueline was third to prep the potatoes. (Which she agreed to when they laid out the plan.) Also Sarah and Joe could reach their tables at the same time while she couldn't. Also her talking head implied that she couldn't check as often as she wanted, not that there was literally no time to cook. So I don't want to overweight something that was probably like 60% the editors playing up a story. But I do agree it's a potential problem if they don't have rules about sharing.

I have to admit - I did not figure they'd get a Sweet Pete's plug into a lighting show. But I liked it. Similar to Precise Graphix, Marcus used the synergy we know he wants as a proving ground for the new business. This was a better episode though, due to a likable owner instead of brother drama. Quality work, too. It's a good question. I assume unless stated otherwise that there is no salary and they're doing equivalent disbursements as needed by the original owner. Which tilts the deals in Marcus' favor since there's no way he's putting as many hours in as they are. But there could be a negotiated salary. We don't know.

I recall catching a bit of an interview with Marcus somewhere where he implied that's one business he's still in but regrets more and more. He only got in because he was pursued so aggressively and it's always been just on that line of "bad, but not walk-away bad". Of course it is drama for the show, which someone in production certainly cares about. Marcus likes to say the cameras are irrelevant but Standard Burger started out with him declaring the messy shed was ruining their business, so maybe he's more of a drama match than the surface would imply.

The thing about CTK is that it's a game show with cooking, not a cooking competition. This disappoints people who wanted Alton to be doing a more Iron Chef type of show again, but it also means the contestants need to think differently. You're right that strategy should be all about picking people off. And it's also about chopping out their bankroll. My eyes roll so hard every time I hear a competitor say "I know I can't outbid them so I just let it go". Then the person with more money gets to sabotage you for $500 and still has more money. Occasionally a chef knows it's about making them pay, and those are my favorites.

Well I'll give this boss credit for one thing: he was apparently smart enough to keep his a-hole behavior off-camera. Everything we saw was him seeming reasonable, but then every break there had apparently been an issue behind-the-scenes. What I would have loved to see is Marcus say "On second thought, I'm not going to build a longboard shop with you. I'm going to build one against you. I'm taking the building you didn't want, the employees who can't stand you, the contracts you couldn't have gotten, and the money that would have gone to you." But then I think the guy knew that was always a risk which is why there was some sort of application technique he didn't teach anyone. Still, it would have made my week. I suspect Marcus knew when he made the offer that the guy wasn't going to accept a 1% share. So I don't know if I would count that. Heck, the Skullduggery guys probably came closer to a rejection that surprised Marcus. (In the sleaziest posssible way, of course. At least Lobsta's rejection was honest and up front, even if his accounting was a little sketchy.) The style here is meant to be snarky, entertaining, POV-style pieces. So I can absolutely see someone liking her writing or not. It's a personal preference. Perhaps you'd prefer this author's style: http://www.cnbcfix.com/marcus-lemonis-profit-cnbc.html I've been reading that blog for a few months now since someone on reddit linked it to me and while I don't always agree with the author I find the point of view interesting.

The self-sabotage is why I always really hated the "station swap" sabotage. Even if we believe that all of the official challenges are tested and beatable, swapping could (and often did) put someone in an unwinnable position. Plus it made a mockery of their earlier bidding, which undermined the game. Fortunately they seem to have gotten this message as I haven't seen a swap in many seasons now. On a different topic, I can't believe they made Antonia crawl around that toy house in her mini-dress. Don't get me wrong, as a guy I wasn't complaining. But I was sympathetic to what must have been very awkward.

Best LOL for me: "Who would use a Cosby joke to push their own agenda?" That was pretty epic. I didn't expect cliffhangers, and I wonder how current any of this will seem in 9 months when we get the next season. But I don't feel like anything important from earlier in the season was simply dropped, and that's very satisfying. (Much better than last season, which felt like references were connected but not resolved. The bar scene at the beginning seemed like a Steven Seagal scene to me. On Deadly Ground probably. (I could be way off, having never seen it. I just got that impression. And beating people up for not being PC is about the most Seagal-like thing anyone's ever done.)

Someone elsewhere pointed out that his behavior is very similar to cocaine use. Checked out, disappearing for a while without explanation, then suddenly having high energy and a desire to fight. Obviously I don't know anything, but it would explain a bit. The whole company was sold to Kittrich Company, which I would have to say is more than just selling off his stake. It's a successful exit for Marcus, which is what you want if you aren't going to build a national brand. However, whether he'd have gone a different route had the women been more pliable, I don't know.

Ahhh. In case any of us were thinking there's not enough crossover, found this on their website:

So Marcus gave them a new name, a new product line with a new theme, a new recipe, new production facility, and new retail connections. Mark has a talent for design, but Marcus also overruled the choice on the jar and on the box. Is the theme of the show still about other people's businesses?

Good thing we had that "Millennial Special" last time. They're so under-represented otherwise! (To be clear I don't care. I'm just annoyed at ABC's marketing gimmick for it.) Trike guy's opening words were "That just happened". He had to climb uphill pretty hard from that, but he almost did. Unfortunately he didn't seem to know how to turn the product into a business and couldn't get a Shark to help him do so. Kind of a neat product though. The Pearlette handbags is again just a matter of spin, like the child art T-shirts. Whether it's awesome that you invoke a community or you're a bastard getting rich by exploiting cheap labor is 100% in the perspective of the person speaking. I don't know if I'd take the gamble on it turning. Trunkster bags ... I can see the appeal in having a GPS locator on your bag. I don't know if I'd pay that much premium for it though, plus a battery charger which itself has to be charged. I do like how they negotiated though, combining different investor assurances so they didn't have to give up more equity than they wanted.

Jim had it coming on the "don't call me 'sweetie'" rebuke from Michelle. He's right that she was getting a little overheated during that pitch, but no way would he have addressed another Dragon anywhere like that. (Not Arlene either, so I think it's more age than gender, though likely some of both.) At least that made it more satisfying when she got the auto deal over him later on. I also liked Joe commenting on the guy's shoes. That's the sort of personality injection some past Dragons have lacked.